Ricky Gervais, writer of The Office and Extras, is to appear in Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City Comedy Club.

The comedian will perform three minutes of new material, as well as some jokes from his recent sell-out "Fame" tour.

"It's a first - which always interests me," he said. "It's seriously a big deal, though. Games have outsold Hollywood for the past few years so it's nice to be a small part of that." The Comedy Club is one of several extracurricular activities introduced in GTA IV, as well as bowling, darts and drinking.

Gervais, talking to London's Shortlist magazine, said that he appears elsewhere in the game too, but refused to tell fans where. He also spoke briefly about filming: "It was shot in New York, and I got to wear a tight lycra suit as part of the digital process," he said. "That wasn't so good."

The comic is not the first star to feature in a Grand Theft Auto game: drummer Phil Collins played the target of an assassination attempt in Vice City Stories. And rapper Snoop Dogg, meanwhile, has also featured in True Crime: Streets of LA, while Bill Clinton was a “secret” star of NBA Jam: Tournament Edition.

Grand Theft Auto IV will also feature legendary Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, who appears as a DJ on one of the in-game radio stations. According to reports, "DJ Karl" will be playing electronica and disco tracks on the K109 The Studio radio channel, and peppers his set with quick-fire commentary. The 74-year-old fashion icon tells listeners that he is "keeping things moving with the music that liberated all of us, taught us we were all the same, showed us that computers were our friends".

Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest instalment in the long-running franchise, hits shops on April 29, and charts the fortunes of Eastern European immigrant and wannabe gangster Niko. For the first time ever, it will also allow fans of the series to compete in online multiplayer missions across the internet.